It was January 2013 when we first got together as an action group and at times it does feel like we aren't getting anywhere. There's been a lot of meetings with the owners of the Dispensary, the Mid Yorkshire Trust (MYT), the NHS organisation that runs the hospitals in Pontefract, Wakefield and Dewsbury, and we have done an enormous amount of work getting ready to take ownership by community asset transfer. As a Community Benefit Society we are an appropriate legal entity, to take ownership, but we have to persuade MYT and potential grant awarding bodies, that we have a feasible and sustainable business plan. With the help of grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Architectural Heritage Fund, we have developed several options for potential uses of the building and we obtained an agreement in principle for the community asset transfer from MYT some years ago. The main obstacle to progress has been the slowness of MYT to consider the future of the PGI demolition site north of Friarwood Lane. The south side was quickly sold off to Persimmon Homes and is now occupied by a new private housing estate. Over the past 10 years the NHS has suffered considerable financial pressures, culminating the the devastating Coronavirus pandemic, so the Dispensary and Hermitage has been way down the list of priorities for MYT. However, there is evidence of progress and MYT are offering the remaining demolition site for sale this month (April 2021) and we await news about the level of interest from potential developers. Of course, the question is why this didn't happen years ago when the Dispensary was still in a reasonable condition and potentially saleable. In its current derelict condition it is unlikely to be attractive to a developer, given its protected status.
We always assumed that we would have ownership of the Dispensary building as well as the Hermitage, and our original business plan was to create a social enterprise using the building to generate income to support a heritage visitor centre for the Hermitage. MYT are offering the site, including the Dispensary for sale, so at this time we don't know if we need to have a business plan for the whole building, or just for the Hermitage. Also, because of the pandemic, it is difficult to formulate a plan given the impossibility of predicting the economic situation. We welcome comments and suggestions for how we can develop this project; to ensure that the Dispensary is preserved and that the Hermitage is available for public visits and supported by a heritage visitor centre. Please leave your comments on the Contact page.